I realize that the days of telemarketing may be well on their way out the door, but I couldn't help making some field-appropriate mental substitutions as I watched the clip below. If this guy was schooling a performing arts ticket/season subscription package selling representative, how would this call likely have played out? It's a world of deliberately uninformed citizenry out there, people. How would you get this guy to put down his cereal spoon and consider investing in something … [Read more...]

"Five oscillators, two effects units, a step sequencer, a joystick controller, a coil touch controller, an amp & speaker and a front mounted sound activated plasma display." If you must know. Below is a video demo of this "experimental sound generator," a unit crafted by Chris Carter (Throbbing Gristle) as a gift to his wife, Cosey Fanni Tutti. Gadgets are great, but I fell hard for the stylized video presentation, of course. One way or the other, I thought everyone around here might enjoy … [Read more...]

My husband sent me the TED talk posted below re: sound and health a couple of days ago, and I have been "saving" it for when I had the time to pay proper attention to it. The days since then have come and gone, but this bit of email marketing for LOUD (the scent and the sound mixed by Tommy Hilfiger?!?!) pushed me to conclude that the time to consume it was nigh, er, now, um, whatever. I watched it. I think you might like it, too, so if you care about sound and haven't caught this yet, you now … [Read more...]

Last week Corey Dargel and Kathleen Supove visited our fair latitude, and now the ladies of Victoire and Nadia Sirota have cruised into town for a show tonight. That's right, New York new music, come for the culture, then consider sticking around for the rents! Victoire + Nadia Sirota: 8 p.m. @ The WindUp Space (Baltimore, MD) [video via danielstephenjohnson (who gets the win for being first to the joke)] … [Read more...]

I have often wished life came with even the barest, most frustrating of pictogram instructions and a universal tool for its assembly. Alas, it appears that even if it did, the drama might run just as high and wild. This seven-part melodrama was secretly shot (except for when they got caught) using the tempting living space set-ups at an IKEA in Burbank, California. The shoppers serving as unintentional extras add a particularly Lynchian vibe to the proceedings. I kept waiting for Lisbeth … [Read more...]

MIA protege and Baltimore daughter Rye Rye lets this video loose in advance of the release of her album on MIA's N.E.E.T. label (set to drop in early 2011). Every time it plays, it's suddenly June in my mind and this is the hot summer jam pumping out of passing car stereos. … [Read more...]

Whenever things like the MacArthur grants or other similarly big-name prizes are announced, I wonder about that initial phone call that informed the recipients of the good news. After all, while these are clearly amazing folks, many of them work well outside of the general public's sightline. NPR carried this story, which includes a lot of audio of Nobel prize winners dealing with the sudden uptick in popularity. Some of them are kind of annoyed that their workday has been interrupted! … [Read more...]

Having grown up with the benefit of a <cue serious voice>traditional classical music education </voice> in the form of violin lessons every Tuesday at 7 p.m.--thanks mom and dad!!--I can be a little snobby about cute games and interactive internet activities that aim to impart some sort of musical literacy. I mean, if flash cards and etudes where good enough when I was a lass--(ahem)--I am not yet ready to concede that there is an app that can take the place of all that hard won … [Read more...]